I will admit that it sounds rather cool without so many overdubbed vocals and overproduction. Local bands seem to like to cover it in versions similar to this one. Not to let myself finish the post on a positive note, I can't imagine the amount of reworking that would make "My Prerogative" into a listenable song.

"The king is dead" isn't too great... It seems like a record Decemberists made by the way, trying not to put too much work in it, not to be terribly great or original. There are good songs, but most of them seem like just rehashing themes and musical mothives they've already done in the past. Since it's called a simple folk record, I'm assuming it's a short break from 'real' projects.

"The king of limbs" is the closest to standard electronica Radiohead's done so far, machine beats go through entire song without breaking up or going to really weird places, and they're usually only supplemented with sparse electronic effects and vocals. There's a few guitar songs in style of "In Rainbows" and one great orchestral number, but mostly it's minimalistic electronic jams. Could have been a song or two longer though.

It's true. Julian Casablancas's solo record wasn't all that great, and this record seems like they're even more bent on doing things they didn't get famous for doing. Feel similarly about the new Vivian Girls, but that one I still have hope for as a grower, to use the parlance of our time. Meanwhile, Radiohead just keep doing whatever the fuck they want to do. Less song based, more groove and atmosphere, and Thom's voice blends in with the music more than any of their prior work. A more difficult work than In Rainbows, and probably not as good, but still really good.

I guess when it comes down to it, The Strokes have been swallowed by the expectations that have surrounded them for the last decade where as Radiohead have learned to deal.

Too bad for Strokes. I felt that their 2nd and 3rd albums were not as bad as their reputation was, but not as good as they should have been considering Is This It - they had a lot of nice songs but lacked really great ones. I guess after a while, even if you're able to come up with the catchiest tunes in the world, audience learns all your moves and those tunes become predictable.

I've been listening to new Radiohead non-stop, pretty great thing. It's moving in a new direction, like Duff said, groove, and even all songs are in 4/4 which is unusual for them. In Rainbows was a band so comfortable with prior experimental elements that they can effortlessly write songs with them and make them look almost conventional, and Kind of Limbs is moving from that conformity, which is why I like it a bit more, more challenging, risky album. I like how many different moods it contains, it's a short album but strangely complete.I also liked how all reviews instantly praised the album, even though it's their strangest in a while. It's like the music press collectively shrugged and said "Hey, if Radiohead says this is good, who am I to argue?"

Gave a listen to new Gorillaz... didn't grab me, I guess I'll wait till they start spamming with videos, that usually does it.

I just really love In Rainbows's songs. You describe it perfectly. I've heard it described as "tasteful," and I think for a band like this that is already in its own league, reining it in is kind of a bold move in itself. That said, this new record is still new to me, so its got plenty of time to reveal itself. And yeah, I think calling Radiohead out on its (perceived) bullshit has gone out of style, critically.

I do think that The Strokes' second record is comparable to the first, and is thus legitimately great. First Impressions of Planet Earth was a mess but had a lot of great songs on it. This new one, I dunno. It's not that it's predictable. I'd have welcomed a backward looking return to Is This It with open arms honestly, so long as the songs were there. But they're not, and they don't even have much of the Strokes sound that we all fell in love with. Oh well.

In Rainbows was pretty logical step after Hail to the Thief. Hail was for me kind of a triumph, an amalgam of all elements that they tinkered with so far, it's a long and epic album, sort of like when you climb at the top of the mountain and suddenly a view spreads in front of you. In Rainbows was then devoid of any neccessity to proove themselves, now everyone know that they could spend their lifetime writing cool and unusual songs in that mode for the rest of their life, which of course makes King of Limbs also logical because you already know that they're not the kind of band to settle down. Also I actually like when Radiohead does electronica. I tend to naturally lean to experimental stuff, which is not to say that In Rainbows songs aren't such. Just trying to follow the rhythm of 15step or Weird Fishes is mind-boggling, and structures of the songs are usually more unrolling towards the end than verse/refrain. But when I listen to In Rainbows I often find myself amazed at how uncapable they are of writing anything that isn't sublimely beautiful. And since it's a sort of look-back album, it's fun to see which period which song draws from. Like, Bodysnatchers is completely Pablo Honey, Nude is Ok Computer, Jigsaw is Hail to the Thief etc. But I think that the greatest challenge about the album was writing very emotional songs, stuff like All I Need and House of Cards, it's something that wasn't present since Bends and I think that many people thought that Radiohead were always writing detached/cold/depressed songs. I think that as far as experimenting goes, that was their greatest challenge on In Rainbows.King of Limbs has pretty beautiful songs too, more in ethereal mode - particularly Bloom, Codex, Lotus Flower, Separator... I tended to listen to it back to back with those singles released last year, Harry Parch and These are my Twisted Words which would have fit right in, particularly the second one would up the tempo of the album a bit, but I figure that the album is rather stripped and basic overall, and that short tracklist is in service of that.

Strokes - Room on Fire was to me a typically second-album-songs-that-didn't-fit-into-the-first-one affair, belonging to the same great creative string that brought Is This It, but all the greatest songs were picked for Is This It... there was still a lot of good and insanely catchy stuff, but lacked something to push it over to greatness. Impressions of Planet Earth was a move in good direction - expanding the sound, managing to score a few great moments, they probably should have continued running with that idea instead of making such long pause.

I'm looking forward to a new TV on the Radio and I'm vaguely interested in new Fleet Foxes. I will probably also dutifully check new REM but the best I expect is that it isn't completely derivative of their earlier work.

Felt Room On Fire was similarly styled but wasn't quite the raucous good time Is This It was. It felt more agitated, more melancholy. Ultimately I'd probably choose Is This It but its not a blowout.

Exactly. Except that I wouldn't call "This is it" that fun", the very thing that attracted me to the album was a certain feeling of resentment, dissapointment, but not caring - a sort of lazy anger. I felt that the image of Casablankas singing while sitting on a speaker might have been an iconic image.

Describing the occurrence of a Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill duet that aired on primetime network television becoming popular on the internet as "a viral sensation" seems to me to be the signal for the much-needed last gasp of the word "viral" and the marketing catchword bastardization of its meaning. It's like referring to something like Toy Story 3 as an unexpected hit.

...that is all.

"Just because we're amateurs, doesn't mean our comics have to be amateurish." -McDuffies

Hurah, it's the time for European Musical Parade of Shame again! It's again time to watch all European nations trying to emulate what was popular on MTV ten years ago! It's our only chance to see Georgian rappera, Moldovan punkers* and all the bad english you can tolerate, all in one place.